About the challenge and the rules

 I first came across the decades challenge on the sims-forum and then later on this webpage. However, as I started playing and writing, I got lost in the research and forgot all about the "rules" of the challenge. Mostly because a lot of them made no sense and had surprisingly little to do with history, but also because they felt a bit restrictive. Early on, I decided to instead let the game and history guide me. 

The start-up rules I've ignored and why:

  • Add the Off-the-Grid lot challenge & No electricity. Use candles or lanterns to light up the house.
    A lot of the objects that should be off the grid in game, simply aren't (like the hanging gas lamp, several candles, wash basins and so on), which makes your options too few. I go for the things that look like they could be off the grid for the poorer households. However, for the richer households, electricity was increasingly common in the wealthier households in the 1890s. In Louisiana (Willow Creek) The Southwestern Brush Electric Light and Power Company was incorporated in New Orleans June 11, 1881. It stands to reason that the wealthier, and more progressive home owners would install at least some electric light.

  • Outhouses required – no toilets in the home.
    The first WC was patented in the US in 1775. The idea of indoor plumbing (again for the rich only) was increasingly popular in the first half of the 1800s, and in the 1850s Chicago started working on a sewer system for the entire city. It stands to reason that some richer people would have indoor plumbing already in 1890, while those who are poor had outdoor plumbing, sometimes under horrible circumstances.

  • Only wooden furniture is allowed in the house &
  • Wooden floors and walls. No drywall or wallpaper. Rugs are allowed.
    These two are just plain wrong, as both rugs, carpets, plush furniture and wallpapers were immensely popular. Again, it was a matter of what you could afford. A poor family would not have wall paper, a rich person would not sit on wooden stools.

  • Your sims may not throw any events besides weddings and family reunions.
    Again, ridiculous! If you've ever read Jane Austen you know that parties, balls and visits were a frequent part of social life even in the early parts of the 1800s. In the 1890s, definitely so! Again it was a matter of class, not the era. And of course you didn't throw wild dance parties with DJs or stereos, there were violinists, and piano players for the balls and guitars and home made instruments for the hay loft parties of the farmers! Fact is, these gatherings were crucial as it was one of the few places where young people could meet and find a suitable partner. 

  • Vacations are not allowed, but camping is.
    Again this was a matter of class, not era. The rich started taking holidays by train and boat during the Victorian Era. The ultimate trip was to go Europe. Poor people travelled less often, ad when they did it was usually to move away. 

Obviously, as time pass there are more rules which I rewrite, adapt or simply ignore, but in those cases I usually bring it up in comments in gameplay. For one thing there will never be a cowplant-feeding death in my story, but if someone is sent to war it will be done in a realistic manner. 

A note on the passage of time and aging: 

It took me quite some time to figure out the passage of time in game, which means some ages and some timelines are a bit...odd. It does fix itself later on when I get the hang of a proper timeline. The time I eventually settle on is the following: 
  • One sim year (56 days, 8 weeks, four seasons) = five real years (so a new decade every two years). 
  • This means that 1 real year = ca. 11 days. 
  • As I want my sims to keep their birthdays to the same day each year, this means the following for life span: 
    • Baby+infant+toddler: 56 days (0-4)
    • Child: 112 days (10 years, 5-14)
    • Teen: 56 days (5 years, 15-29)
    • YA: 112 days (10 years, 20-30)
    • Adult and Elders will shift with time, to reflect a longer expected lifespan as time moves on. After all being 80 today is not the same as being 80 in 1955. 
So why make childhood longer than teenage-stage? Well mainly because teens in so many ways act and behave more mature than your average 13-year-old, and I wanted to keep a birthday stead. Therefore it felt more accurate.

CC vs vanilla:

I started out with an idea of using as little CC as possible, but that changed with time. As things evolved, I have learnt to keep unimportant NPCs in vanilla-outfits, but will use CC for main characters or other important people. Feel free to ask me about any CC you see. 

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